MMORPGs versus SPRPGs
Posted by: Snafzg
On: May 21, 2009 at 11:57am
I wrote up a Daily Grind question over at Massively this morning but I thought it might be fun to discuss the same idea from a slightly different angle with you. My question to our readers was "Once you've played (and enjoyed) MMORPGs, can you ever go back to (and enjoy) single-player RPGs?"When I look at both RPG-types, I see three S's and three C's that differentiate them:
- SPRPGs emphasize story, stats, and strategy
- MMORPGs emphasize community, collaboration, and competition
MMORPGs have all three S's found in SRPGs, but usually to a lesser degree. To make up for this, they focus on three C's. Your only friends in an SRPG tend to be NPCs whereas MMORPGs give you real live players to interact and bond with in game and out (e.g., guilds and alliances). Collaboration takes this a step further by allowing you to actually work with others towards a common goal. Competition allows you to take your stats, strategy, community, and collaboration and test it out against others, while the only competition in SRPGs tends to be against yourself (e.g., beating FFVII in 45 hours vs. 70, while unlocking entirely new zones, summons, and chocobos *bwwwwark*).
Another major difference is a sense of accomplishment versus a sense of the "Neverending Story." It felt great beating a game like FFVII but I also felt like I had wasted an immense amount of time because I completed it completely alone in my parent's basement (hey, I was a teenager!). There really is no end-game in an MMORPG and any time you reach the cap it is usually only temporary as they unlock new content and challenges for you to experience. Don't take that comment to mean I'm a fan of vertical progression/mudflation as an expansion strategy, because I believe you can accomplish the same thing with horizontal expansion.
This is all basically coming down to the same conclusion as my Daily Grind piece, which is that I really can't bring myself to play SRPGs now that I've experienced MMORPGs. It's all fine and good until you consider the final difference I see between both game-types. MMORPGs always seem to suffer from polish issues, which I see as a huge flaw with the genre. I realize the complexities of MMORPGs, but I still believe we can improve in this area by leaps and bounds.
I think there will always be a place for SRPGs but as more and more folks get online, I predict MMORPGs will eventually take over as the dominant form. The only thing really holding them back right now is story and polish, but once developers can crack that nut, I think the floodgates will open. As instances, zone phasing, and solo viability become more mainstream in MMORPGs, why would anyone but the most introverted "hardcore" person bother playing an SRPG anymore? Heck, I'd even call myself pretty introverted and a mostly solo gamer and I still play MMORPGs over SRPGs.
I'm looking at you to prove me right, BioWare! *cough cough*
What I discovered was, MMOs are not my style!
I really do enjoy some of the community aspects of MMOs, such as the Teamspeak banter where people talk about their lives, the weather, etc.
What is not appealing is the peer pressure associated with guilds. ('Okay guys, we're doing X scenario tomorrow, so I need EVERYBODY logging in at exactly 8 pm sharp! ARE WE CLEAR?!)
WAR came to feel like a second job, where - if I didn't help the group, then I was letting them down. I was actually relieved when our guild disbanded.
I guess I might be more suited to PVE-style MMOs, but then again, why pay a monthly fee for a solo experience, when you have games like Fallout 3 out there?
Keep up the good work - thanks
I was dead set against playing MMOs initially because I was opposed to the model of paying for a piece of software and then paying a monthly fee to continue using it. I also couldn't understand the appeal when there were really well written MUDs out there that were available for free. But GW was my gateway drug, and from there, it wasn't a big leap to try WoW. I suspect there will always be people for whom the monthly fee is a turn off, though. It's not the cost, so much as the idea of paying continuously.
As I mentioned on Massively, I agree that playing MMOs can change how we feel about single player rpgs. I'll dabble in single player games now, but I can't get into them as much as I did before. If I become a spectre, or the leader of the Dark Brotherhood, then I want other people around to appreciate it! (My husband acting impressed just doesn't quite cut it!)
The other thing that's missing in a single player game, even for the MMO soloer, is a sense of shared language with a community. I run into people irl all the time who play WoW or other MMOs, and we instantly have a connection. I don't own a single t-shirt for a single player RPG, but have a ton of MMO ones. :)
You mentioned reasons I still like single-player RPGs; polish, story, actual ending. The fixed cost also helps. I can pay once and play that RPG on/off for months without every thinking twice about it. And by using a game trading site, I can turn a new game into either another new one or several older ones.
I tend to like MMOs as an explorer/achiever mix. I really enjoy going to new areas and building up my characters. Usually, once I approach max level, I start losing interest in that character as I know the only way to improve them is typically through a gear grind that I just don't have time for. With a family, I don't care for long raids and I need to be able to be interrupted at a moments notice for who knows how long. This tends to evolve into me playing an MMO mostly as a single player game or at most small groups (2-3 people). I still get to banter with my guild though, which is nice.
Sure, MMO's have the community aspects that make them more appealing in some ways.
They also have the 'crack' aspects - the gameplay is more addictive because the 'achievements' (items, levels, skills, titles etc) are designed to be more drawn out to keep people subscribing. This makes it difficult, if you are addicted to such things, to tear yourself away and go back to single player games.
Ok so you think that beating an MMO's end game is not an immense amount of wasted time just because you did it with other people?? that is soo untrue, I personally beleive thet you waste more time in an MMO simply because the perpetual progression simply force you to invest larger chucks of your free time it also keeps you locked from discovering other games...
Well, one may argue that at least you can make friends playing mmos but forums and communities on regular RPGs are legions now and people can share their love for the game without actually playing together.
Finally, map editors are not functional on MMORPGS witch still allow RPGs to let their players get more involved by creating its own "perpetual" gameplay value.
PS: please snaffy could you fix that comment button ?? it should be placed at the end of the article fgs...
If you can read german: http://ao-lai.blog.de/2009/05/21/altdorf-498-unvertedigt-waffen-waffen-6154042/
Regards from Germany,
Yitu
@Melf - I think there's truth to the addictive aspects, but I don't know if that's what bothers me per say. I'm more turned off by the lack of socialization and competition with other people mostly, which may tie in more with the achievements you describe (e.g., getting more achievements than others not necessarily just getting the achievements themselves.).
@Pwnrox - It isn't even just finishing the SRPG that makes me feel like I'm wasting time. Any time I spend playing one just bores me to tears after the first few hours these days.
If the game is good, the game is good. Then again, I'm a gamer at heart. Doesn't matter the genre. I just want to be entertained.
The problem I have is MMORPG's are social, and if I DON'T log in for that raid, or that Bilerot run, I feel like I'm letting down my friends.
That great thing about SRPG's is you can always Save it as well.
Great post though